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Louis Pasteur

"Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world."

Early life.

Pasteurization.

Research on infectious diseases.

The Creation of the Pasteur Institute.

In 1865, Pasteur began to study the silkworm diseases that were crippling the silk industry in France. He discovered the infectious agents and revealed the manner in which these agents are transmitted and how to prevent them. Elaborating on his study of fermentation, he could now confirm that each disease is caused by a specific microbe and that these microbes are foreign elements. With this knowledge, Pasteur was able to establish the basic rules of sterilization or asepsis. Preventing contagion and infection, his method of sterilization revolutionized surgery and obstetrics.

In 1886, Pasteur presented the results of his rabies treatment to the Academy of Sciences and called for the creation of a rabies vaccine center. An extensive, international public drive for funds financed the construction of the Pasteur Institute, a private, state-approved institute recognized by the President of France, Jules Grévy, in 1887 and inaugurated by his successor Sadi Carnot in 1888. In accordance with Pasteur's wishes, the Institute was founded as a clinic for rabies treatment, a research center for infectious disease and a teaching center.

He started working on finding solutions to the problems with the manufacture of alcoholic drinks. Working with the germ theory, which Pasteur did not invent, but further developed through experiments and eventually convinced most of Europe of its truth, he demonstrated that organisms such as bacteria were responsible for souring wine, beer and even milk. He then invented a process where bacteria could be removed by boiling and then cooling liquid. He completed the first test in 1862. Today the process is known as pasteurization.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree (1840), Bachelor of Science degree (1842) and a doctorate (1847) at the École Normale in Paris. Pasteur then spent several years researching and teaching at Dijon Lycée. In 1848, he became a professor of chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he met Marie Laurent, the daughter of the university's rector. They got married in 1849, and had five children, though only two survived childhood.

1895

1863

1847

1822

1885

Vaccination.

Spontaneous generation.

From Crystallography to Molecular Asymmetry.

He discovered the method for the attenuation of virulent microorganisms that is the basis of vaccination. He developed vaccines against chicken cholera, anthrax and swine erysipelas. After mastering his method of vaccination, he applied this concept to rabies. In 1885, Pasteur tested his pioneering rabies treatment on a man for the first time: the young Joseph Meister was saved.

At the age of 26, Pasteur did his first work on molecular asymmetry, bringing together the principles of crystallography, chemistry and optics. He formulated a fundamental law: asymmetry differentiates the organic world from the mineral world. In other words, asymmetric molecules are always the product of life forces. His work became the basis of a new science: stereochemistry.

Many people believed that some living things simply appeared out of nowhere, but Pasteur didn't accept this idea. In order to prove his point, Pasteur filled two separate flasks with chicken broth. He boiled both containers to kill all the bacteria. The contents of one flask were protected from germs floating in the air. The contents of the other flask were not. The protected flask developed no form of life in it. It did not spoil. The contents of the other flask developed bacteria. Pasteur concluded from this that the organisms in this flask arose from contamination from the outside, not from "spontaneous generation".

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